Flooding in Southeast Asia Raises Famine Risk: Over 1,700 Dead, Thousands Injured, and 700 Missing

The catastrophic convergence of two tropical cyclones and the monsoon season has left at least 1,790 people dead in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. In Indonesia alone, there are over 547 missing individuals, nearly 2,700 injured, and around 3.5 million affected. The death toll could rise due to hunger in remote regions of Aceh. People are not dying from the floods but from starvation, warned Governor Muzakir Manaf. Jakarta’s reluctance to declare a national disaster and seek international aid may indicate its inability to handle the situation alone.